Kardamyla
CHIOS
HISTORY OF KARDAMYLIAN FOUNDATION
Two existing organizations, the Metropolitan Society of Kardamylians (based in Brooklyn, NY) and the Association of Worldwide Kardamylians («Σ.Α.Κ.» based in Piraeus) joined efforts to create the Kardamylian Foundation, realizing this would further their own aspirations to help their ancestral homeland and improve the lives of their compatriots. The idea was first conceived on August 15, 1995 in Kardamyla at a gathering at the home of Markos K. Marinakis (Founder & Director of Marinakis Chartering, Inc) held during the Pan-Chian Convention.
According to Mr. Marinakis, those present were his brother Nicholas Marinakis (Convention Chairman and Mayor of Kardamyla between 2002-2006), George K. Chimples (an industrialist from Cleveland, OH), Captain Nicholas Frangos (Founder/Director of Good Faith Shipping and President of the Association of Worldwide Kardamylians), Kostas Sevastos (Supreme President of the Chian Societies of USA & Canada) and Elias Tsakos (Founder and Director of Entrust Maritime).
Their dream was to find a way to sustain the beauty of their beloved village Kardamyla on the Greek island of Chios.
In 1997, about two years after that first conversation, George Chimples proposed creating an organization similar in structure to the prestigious Leadership 100 (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America), of which he himself had been a co-founder. By the end of that summer, he had already drawn a constitution for the Kardamylian Foundation. On August 15, 1999 the first official meeting of the Foundation’s General Assembly successfully took place with more than 100 members in attendance.
KARDAMYLA
A “CITY OF CAPTAINS”
On the final evening of the Pan-Chian Convention in August 13, 1995, Markos Marinakis remembers how US Congressman Jack Fields (TX), the Chairman of the congressional Transport (and Shipping) sub-committee, referred to our beloved Kardamyla as the “City of Captains”. That evening was well attended by numerous captains, ship-owners and other dignitaries, including US Congressmen Billy Tauzin (LA), co-Chairman of that sub-committee and Ron Klink (PA).
Today, several years after that historic time, which coincided with the festivities for the Dormition of the Virgin Mary (August 15), the Kardamylian Foundation has proven to be an important driving force for projects supporting Kardamyla and advancing its prosperity in the 21st century.
